Southern 2-8-2 4501 Debuts In "Virginia Green"
Published: May 23, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum unveiled Southern 2-8-2 #4501 back in its classic "Virginia Green" livery today, leading an excursion on a wet and rainy morning. The museum states it has been 30 years since the engine last wore this scheme, which was quite common the locomotive throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The organization has said 4501 will remain in this green livery throughout this year (2026) before returning back to its standard black in 2027. To purchase tickets and ride behind the locomotive in upcoming excursions please visit https://www.tvrail.com/.
A video still of Southern 4501 leading an excursion along the TVRM on May 23, 2026. Video by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.About 4501
Southern 2-8-2 4501 is one of the most significant preserved steam locomotives in the United States. A classic “Mikado” type (2-8-2 wheel arrangement), it was the first of 182 Ms-class locomotives built for the Southern Railway and has become an icon of the modern steam excursion era.
Built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia (builder’s number 37085), No. 4501 represented Southern’s shift toward more powerful freight power. The larger firebox enabled by the trailing truck gave it superior steaming capacity compared to earlier Consolidations. It spent nearly four decades hauling freight across the Southern system, working routes in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and eventually Indiana.
In 1948, with dieselization advancing, Southern sold the locomotive to the Kentucky & Tennessee Railway (K&T), a shortline coal hauler in Stearns, Kentucky. Renumbered K&T No. 12, it continued working heavy coal trains in the mountains for another 16 years. Its survival into the early 1960s made it one of the last steam locomotives still in regular revenue service in the eastern U.S.
In 1961, rail enthusiasts Robert Soule and Paul Merriman—future founders of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) in Chattanooga—discovered the engine while documenting remaining steam power. Merriman helped finance its purchase in 1964 for roughly $5,000, and TVRM moved it to Chattanooga. In 1966 the locomotive was beautifully restored and painted in Southern Railway’s classic passenger green livery with gold lettering and trim. It became the star of the railroad’s popular public-relations steam excursion program, pulling passenger trains across the South and Midwest for decades and helping spark the broader revival of mainline steam operations.
After a long and successful career in excursion service, 4501 was retired in 1998. A major overhaul from 2011 to 2014 returned it to operation for Norfolk Southern’s 21st Century Steam program. It has since remained a flagship attraction at TVRM, delighting thousands of riders each year with its distinctive bark and elegant lines.
In early 2026, TVRM announced a special project to return No. 4501 to its iconic 1966 green passenger livery for the 2026 operating season—exactly 60 years after it first entered excursion service wearing those colors. The repaint, supported by a lead gift from Scale Trains and individual donors, is a celebratory, limited-time tribute. The locomotive emerged from its annual inspection in the green scheme (with some weather-related delays pushing the debut), delighting fans before it is scheduled to revert to its more traditional black freight livery in 2027. The project has also helped highlight TVRM’s fundraising for a new indoor finishing facility to better protect future restoration work.
Today, 4501 remains fully operational and continues to serve as a living link to the golden age of steam while reminding visitors of the early days of the heritage railroad movement. Its story—from humble freight hauler to preservation pioneer and now anniversary celebrity—spans more than a century of American railroading history.
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